- The FBI warns against file conversion projects on the web being malicious
- Some abandon malicious software, other steering wheel of sensitive data
- The FBI urges the victims to report the attacks
Free online online file converters, similar joiners and productivity tools are actually covers for malware / ransomware data and Ransomware campaigns, the FBI warns.
The office warning indicates that its agents from the Denver field office “see more and more a scam involving free online document converter tools”.
In the warning, the law enforcement agency also urged victims to present themselves and report the authorities of this scam.
Report the scam
“To carry out this diet, cyber criminals around the world use any type of free document converter or download tool. It could be a pretending website convert one type of file, such as a .DOC file in .pdf file. It could also claim to combine files, such as joining several .JPG files in a .pdf file.
The worst part is that the tools work as expected, and the victims will always get the files they were looking for.
However, they will also get a malware on their computer, or the files they have downloaded for conversion / junction will be deleted for information.
The FBI claims that the tools can scrape the files submitted for personal identification information, such as social security numbers, birth dates and telephone numbers, banking information, cryptocurrency information (seed sentences, wallet addresses, etc.), email addresses and passwords.
“The best way to thwart these fraudsters is to educate people so that they are not victims of these fraudsters in the first place,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in charge of Mark Michalek.
“If you or someone you know have been affected by this program, we encourage you to make a report and take measures to protect your assets. Every day, we work to hold these Responsible crooks and provide victims with the resources they need. ”
The FBI urges victims to report these scams at the FBI Internet Crime Plaind Center on www.ic3.gov.
